Some things:

27 July 2015

This week was a bit meager on the hobby output side of things.
Between spending time with mates, going
to see an International rugby double-header event and so forth, these two
finished minis are it for week 7 of the Challenge.

First up, another Viking Hirdman for my Dark Ages project.
Love this pose, he’s about to wreck someone’s day with that Danish-axe. Simple
paint job with a bit of clumsy freehand for the trim on his jerkin. (I hope to
get some more of these done before my next update so my nifty Draxian ™ progress
charts can show more green than yellow!)

The other piece is another mini that I will be using for my
rpg campaign. This was a Wizkids
Heroclix lizardman that my son requested I paint up and use in my upcoming rpg
campaign – but I decided instead it’ll be a Troglodyte gladiator. The sculpt
was flippin’ horrible though with terrible detail all over the face and hands.
Still, although not my best work by far, I like the finished result and look
forward to plonking him down in-game.

I got a couple games of Flames of War in as well against my
old pal Densmol. Nice to be playing again after some months off. He picked up
some 5.5” Medium Artillery guns so that my Brit/Canadian artillery will finally
be able to scare people (Cos 25-pounders in Flames of War are utter pants). And
they were the main damage dealer in both games (Including an attached AOP
flying observer) with both Densmol’s Fallschirmjager (German paratroops) and
Schwere Panzer (Heavy tanks) companies suffered under their heavy barrages. I
can’t wait to get these painted up so they match the rest of my force.

Lastly – Kind old bugger Admiral Drax mentioned in a
comment over on Cameron’s blog that Warlord Games are having a stupid good saleright now on their rulebooks. Buy one and get a free box of 30-40 plastic
infantry or a tank or whatever (Sale finishes 31st July though.). It’s a sweet way to lure simpletons like me to
get into a games system. So yeah, me and Densmol are just waiting for our new
Bolt Action rulebooks to arrive…. And our Winter Soviets (Me) and German
Grenadiers (Him) infantry boxes. 28mm WW2 gaming here we come. I’m thinking
Some super late “Soviets attacking Germany in the Winter months”; mainly so I
have an excuse to buy an IS-2 tank.

13 July 2015

This weekend was another lovely quiet affair with Footie on the television, wine flowing freely and lots of time to paint.

Saying that, I only managed to get one single mini completed. And here she is.

Mila will be a Bard player character in my upcoming Barbarian setting roleplay campaign. Her background is as a slave dancer/singer. The mini is a metal Reaper Miniatures effort that I am not certain has been translated into their plastic "Bones" material.

The pictures have washed out what shading there is, so the real piece doesn't look so stark in real life.

Seeing as our game world has a rather Frazetta-esque feel, I figured this sculpt would fit right in. I like her look of arrogance, but also sadness. This poor girl's lead a short and hard life and someone's going to pay for the loss of whatever innocence she once had. The blue right hand is something I will write about in a later post.

With such large areas of skin, I felt obliged to add some sort of design or tattoo, hence the snake (At least it's supposed to be a snake.) slithering up her thigh. She also sports a brand on her buttock to denote her status as a slave and who she is owned by.

I also got some work started on another of the player character minis for the campaign, but not enough to post up just yet.

10 July 2015

Got a bit more done on the cursed 15mm Confederate cavalry. Only 6 more of these to finish up before I can get basing sorted and call them done. Finally. :)

Speaking of ACW, I've been reading through Sam Mustafa's "Longstreet" American Civil War gaming rules (After reading through the multiple AAR's that the Madpadre has posted up on his blog) and I'm liking what I see. Kind of excited to get a campaign going using the rules from the book - means I need to get painting grey uniforms quicksmart though!

Also started painting a female Barbarian setting Bard mini for my upcoming rpg campaign. In true Frazetta style, she seems to have forgotten about the prospect of Winter, or even a stiff breeze and so is yet another lesson in "painting skin".

And that's it. Bit rubbish after the frenzied work sessions of my first month, but there ya go. Ebbs and flows and all that.

Today marks the 75th anniversary of the Brits winning the Battle of Britain. Makes me think of my Grandfather (Though his RAF exploits were in the Middle East during this period) and offer thanks to all those brave men and women who were part of the massive undertaking to combat the Luftwaffe's attempt to pummel my home country into submission. Makes me feel like I need to paint up a Spitfire sometime soon. :)

Lastly, sad news as an old favourite of mine, Actor Omar Sharif passed away at a respectable 83 years old. There are many films in my list of favourites that would not have been so beloved were he not there to add his flair.

06 July 2015

Two more viking badarse hairy buggers done over the Holiday weekend. Like these sculpts very much, shame my eye painting was a little rubbish.

Bloke on the left had a bit of a cartoony eye affliction as a child. The chap on the right.... bit cross-eyed, hence how he didn't see the flowers before he trod upon the blooms.

Tried to paint a simple wolf-pelt and think the colourings are convincing enough.

Also worked on more of my ACW Confederate cavalry, but had to take a break from the crappy sculpts and got some paint onto a Heroclix lizardman that my son begged me to paint up. It originally had a pathetic looking bendy glaive that I cut out and replaced with a cut down 1980's GW skeleton cavalry lance. Still lots to do, but I do know he'll end up as a Troglodyte gladiatorial adversary in my upcoming rpg.

Whilst overall this is a pretty shoddy sculpt, I do like the movement in the pose.